Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 October 1908 — FEAR OF ASSASSINATION [ARTICLE]

FEAR OF ASSASSINATION

It Keeps Rulers In a Continual State of Apprehension, c AFFECTS STATE AFFAIRS Men In Power Have Reason to Fear ’ the Murderer, Not Only for Their Own Sakes, But Also for the Sake of the Order of Things They Represent. While actual assassinations are happily ’ infrequent, the continual state of apprehension that rulers have to endure has In Itself no slight affect on political affairs. Men in power have reason to fear the weapon of the i murderer not only for their own sakes but also for the sake of the order of things they represent. Of the natural terror in which those In high places at present live the London Spectator makes a remarkable statement in these words: “The rulers of Europe more especially—those of J'Jorth and South America are almost equally affectedare greatly influenced by the fear of nwirde '. They know that they are always in danger, and believe that the murderers are generally persons of ixtremely democratic opinions, or men hostile to the present constitution of society. This causes a distrust between rulers and people wMch arrests many ameliorations that would be adopted if confidence between classes could be restored, increases the desire for military protection, and u.minlshes the hope of the masses in tne concessions they seek from those above them. We say it Is ‘the rulers’ who are shocked out or their selfcontrol because tne permanent danger ris not felt only by the kings or pres- - Idents, or even* by the leading ministers who so often require special police protection. Kings and statesmen can more or less guard themselves; but their danger affects large groups, and sometimes very Important and extensive Interests.”

The effects of any cutting off of sovereigns at present in • Europe is speculated upon as tullows: "The murder ... of the Czar would affect every member of the bureaucracy, and be regarded as a frightful blow by the whole body of reactionaries In Russia. The murder of the German Emperor or of the Emperor of Austria would shake all Europe, disturb all political calculations, and perhaps produce sudden end unexpected wars. Huge parties ntd great interests would find the world as they had known it erumbling around theta. The murder even of President Fallleres, with his limited prerogatives, ,would open the road to new ambitions, and perhaps provide France with a new master whose international policy would be totally different from that of the present government. The general effect, in fact, would be equal to that of the Revolutionary Terror, which in the judgment of many of the most thoughtful observers directly arrested, the European progress which it seems to other observers to have secured. The rulers of Europe were slowly beginning to understand their peoples when that frightful explosion with its attendant massacres drove the whole of the conservative classes into an •'Onnde of ferocious self-de- . reuse. Every great nerson nas a multitude of dependents, or pf people who look to him for guidance, and every assassination in such a case disturbs opinion among millions, shakes confidence, and postpones hope. It Is felt to be Impossible to reason reasonably because tot pie possibility, the imminent possibility, of bolts from the blue. How are you to calculate when an earthquake may at any moment destroy the data Of calculation? Europe would not be the same place, the same people would not be important, the whole drift of international politics wquld be different, if the Emperor of Ausria. for example, died suddenly, and more especially, because more scenically, if he died through external violence.” The “danger of assassination” at the present moment i» "really acute” and is one of the causes which create distrust between rulers and the ruled and lead to extreme measures of repression.' "If assassination were impossible, Mr. Stolypins >would not have sanctioned drumhead court-marlal.” How is the condition of things to be ■ remedied? Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are-two safetyvalves by means of which much 111feenng will evaporate. Another means of allaying popular distrust and hatred Is by making every one feet himself a sharer in tne constitutional power and authority of the realm. To quote The Spectator: "The two remedies In which at present any hope can be found are publicity, through which no doubt much hatred is exhaled, and that dispersal of power and responsibility which is Involved In every constitutional system.